The Autonomous Brain: A Neural Theory of Attention and Learning / Edition 1

ISBN-13: 9780805832112 Publisher: Taylor & Francis Publication date: 07/01/1999 Edition description: New Edition Pages: 166 Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d) Lexile: 1410L (what's this?) The behaviorist credo that animals are devices for translating sensory input into appropriate responses dies hard. The thesis of this pathbreaking book is that the brain is innately constructed to initiate behaviors likely to promote the survival of the species, and to sensitize sensory systems to stimuli required for those behaviors. Animals attend innately to vital stimuli (reinforcers) and the more advanced animals learn to attend to related stimuli as well. Thus, the centrifugal attentional components of sensory systems are as important for learned behavior as the more conventional paths. It is hypothesized that the basal ganglia are an important source of response plans and attentional signals. This reversal of traditional learning theory, along with the rapid expansion of knowledg